The present invention relates generally to portable secretaries and more particularly to a work surface which attaches to a luggage carrier, enabling a traveler to establish a portable office while waiting in airport terminals and the like.
Several contemporaneous trends are pointing to the need for mobile amenities usually relegated to established or stationary office environments. An increasing number of business people rely on travel in their jobs because of air travel and enhanced airport security. Such individuals often find themselves spending a considerable amount of time in public places waiting for departures or arrivals. Concurrently, computing machinery has become increasingly portable with notebook computers and laptops equipped with sufficient hard disk and CD-ROM storage to carry sophisticated application programs and enormous files with work related information. Indeed, terms such as xe2x80x9cmobile computingxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cnomadic computingxe2x80x9d are becoming more prevalent.
Additionally, for the sake of convenience, an increasing number of air travelers are resorting to carry-on luggage, as opposed to checked luggage, to avoid loss in transit and circumvent delays associated with baggage claim. Due to the increase in carry-on luggage, more individuals are using rolling carts and other structural mechanisms to assist in transferring bags from one place to the next, removing the need to lift and carry these cumbersome items. Likewise, the types of luggage used by travelers has evolved to include integrated wheels and handles. As a result, it is common to see frequent fliers with such luggage carriers.
This invention addresses such trends by providing a portable work station having a work surface that may be secured to a luggage carrier. As used herein, a luggage carrier is intended to encompass all types of luggage-related devices including but not limited to luggage carrier, luggage carts, rolling or sliding luggage, rolling or sliding cases and the like. Such a work surface provided by the invention is not only preferably universal in its coupling to existing luggage carriers, but is substantial and stable enough to support at least two 8xc2xdxc3x9711 documents side-by-side or a laptop computer.
The work station attaches to an upright support member such as the vertical extensible handle support members common to a wide variety of wheeled luggage carriers by grasping or frictionally engaging the support members with a clamping mechanism. The height of the work surface may be varied depending on whether the user is in a seated or standing position. The front of the work surface is supported by a collapsible rod assembly which varies in length according to the position of the work surface and extends down to the floor or alternately to the upright support member. The rod assembly in conjunction with the support member creates a stable arrangement to support the work surface. The rod assembly may be positioned between the legs of a user so that in a seated position, the legs of the user will fit underneath the work surface allowing easy access to the work surface.